08 January, 2009

It appears to have made the rounds on the Catholic, pro-life circuit for being (a) a pro-life song, and (b) the #1 song in Quebec. Apparently I don't waste as much time on the internet as I thought, because for the past two years I've been completely unaware of it.

Apparently I'm also somewhat thick, because I don't quite see the "pro-life" bona fides of the song. The First Things article says that it "gives unequivocal praise to their ancestors’ high birthrates," but I don't see the "unequivocal praise". I agree that it describes the emptiness and isolation of the modern lifestyle, and yes one of the most powerful images is in terms of the modern sexual life, describing how the woman wanders from one partner to the next, has abortions "when you make a dumb mistake," and wakes up in tears after dreaming of a large table surrounded by children. The song also sings that "your mother didn't want you; you were an accident."

But to see "unequivocal praise" in the large family: did the great-great-grandmother with fourteen children want all of them?

This whole business of "wanting" children irritates me. Look, when you get married, sometimes you have children; that's the way it is. I'd say God entrusted my children to me. Both they and He probably regret it by now, so woe upon me for breaking that trust. (Insert a large number of Scripture verses here.) But I doubt that the great-great-grandmother "wanted" the children so much as she "accepted" them.

Maybe I am being thick, and that is the point of the words. I'll leave my thickness in here so you can reflect on how thick I am.

As for the rest of the First Things article, you can read it yourself, compare it to the video, and decide whether the author is reading too much into the video, as I suspect, or whether he's dead on, as the Catholic pro-life web thinks.

PS: I think the song advocates the rejection of the rejection of tradition. (No typo there.) I happen to agree with it.

PPS: Even Celine has gotten into the act. Or, the act has gotten into Celine, not sure which. Decide for yourself.

1 comment:

Thanks for the song. It is catchy and I think you are right about the meaning - or at least more right than the folks who see it as a pro-life song. But it is about tradition and family history, so I like it.

As for me, the song I have running through my brain today is "Drum bun, Drum bun," an old Romanian army marching song.